


At Issue

by Amy R (Brightknightie)



Category: Forever Knight
Genre: Episode: "Dead Issue", Gen, Poetry, policework
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-07-15
Updated: 2000-07-15
Packaged: 2017-10-23 02:30:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/245298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brightknightie/pseuds/Amy%20R
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While interrogating the suspect in "Dead Issue," Nick identifies his struggle with hers.  (Poem: 10 pentameter quatrains, rhymed.)<br/>      <em>"bound hand and heart to civilized evil"</em><br/><span class="small">(Original: July 2000.   Winner: '00 FK Fanfic Award.)</span></p>
            </blockquote>





	At Issue

Tell us where he is, Mrs. Fiori.  
        Tell us where your husband took the captain.  
        Come on; I know you know where they are, Lynn.  
And Stonetree's life hangs on that mystery.

I wish I could say, Mrs. Fiori,  
        take your time; think it over; sleep on it.  
        I wish I could be more compassionate  
with your loyalty to his treachery.

I know that contradiction all too well,  
        though I have to use my understanding  
        to compel you to speak, countermanding  
the silent prison in which we both dwell.

I can't share how I know your point of view —  
        bound hand and heart to civilized evil,  
        long losing hope of your soul's retrieval.  
I can't say, I've worn those grim shackles, too.

You seduced Gubbins, Mrs. Fiori.  
        You felt inferior, corrupt, worthless.  
        You embraced the mantle of murderess  
though guilty, instead, of adultery.

I cannot say aloud how well I know  
        those same dark swamps of self-hatred and guilt  
        where shame-haunted lusts mire hope like silt  
choking the future in the long-ago.

Tonight, something changed, Mrs. Fiori.  
        Something changed as you drove the Captain's car.  
        You've broken your chains and lifted the bar;  
you're here because of that discovery.

I can't reveal my epiphany —  
        Sylvaine dead by his choice, but my own fault.  
        Allowed love till my master called a halt,  
I fully understood his tyranny.

Tell us where right now, Mrs. Fiori,  
        or the captain's death will be on your head.  
        Lynn, think about what you have defended.  
Save yourself in saving Captain Stonetree.

And as you, in anguish, wield the pen  
        to write the address where we have to go,  
        I cannot tell you how time seems to slow,  
watching that flaming stake strike home again.

 

  
**— End — **   


**Author's Note:**

>  **Disclaimers.** Parriot and Cohen created  Forever Knight; Sony owns it. I intend no infringement. All characters and situations are of course entirely fictional.
> 
>  **Citations.**   _Canon:_ Nick, in "Dead Issue," to Linda "Lynn" Fiori: " _C'mon. You know where your husband's taken Stonetree; I know you do. You felt inferior, corrupt. You seduced Gubbins. And you've done whatever's necessary to protect your husband. But tonight, something changed. While you were driving the captain's car, something changed. That's why you're here. Tell us right now, Mrs. Fiori, or you'll be responsible for the captain's death._ " The poem directly invokes the episodes "Dead Issue," "Love You to Death" and "Dark Knight, The Second Chapter."  _Prosody:_ For the interest of those mechanically inclined: ten pentameter quatrains, rhymed  In Memoriam style, compose the lyric.
> 
>  **Beta-Reading.** My thanks go to Bonnie, for examining the first draft of this poem, and to Shelley, for analyzing the penultimate one.
> 
>  **Thank you for reading!** Constructive criticism is welcome. Let me know what you think?


End file.
